Max Boot
A military historian and foreign policy commentator who evolved from a staunch neoconservative voice to a sharp critic of populist nationalism.
Born 1969 (age 57)·Russian-American writer and historian·Birthday: September 12·Generation X
Biography
Born in the Soviet Union and raised in Los Angeles, Max Boot has spent his career analyzing American power from the inside. He first made his name as a forceful advocate for a muscular U.S. foreign policy, writing editorials for The Wall Street Journal and authoring detailed histories of warfare that argued for the necessity of American leadership. His books, like 'The Savage Wars of Peace,' were bibles for a certain brand of post-Cold War interventionism. The political upheavals of the 2010s, however, prompted a public and intellectual reckoning. Boot became a vocal critic of the Trump movement, arguing it betrayed the conservative principles he once championed. This transformation turned him into a different kind of commentator, one focused on the threats to democracy from within, even as he maintained his deep expertise on the mechanics of conflict and strategy.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Max was born in 1969, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Max Was Born
The biggest hits of 1969
#1 Movie
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Best Picture
Midnight Cowboy
#1 TV Show
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Max's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1969Born
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1974Started school
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1982Became a teenager
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1985Could drive
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1987Could vote
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1990Turned 21
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
1999Turned 30
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 40
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 50
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2026Age 57 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored 'The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power,' a influential history of U.S. military interventions.
- Served as a senior foreign policy advisor to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.
- Wrote 'The Corrosion of Conservatism,' a memoir detailing his break with the modern Republican Party.
- Holds the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellowship in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Did You Know?
He emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States with his family when he was a child.
He is a contributing columnist for The Washington Post and appears frequently as a CNN global affairs analyst.
His book 'The Road Not Taken' is a biography of Edward Lansdale, the controversial Cold War operative.
He has stated that the Iraq War and the rise of Donald Trump caused him to re-evaluate many of his political views.
“I was a man without a party, feeling politically homeless.”
